Palanga incident

The Palanga incident (2-6 January 1950) occurred when Soviet Air Force fighters attacked two squadrons of US Navy F8F Bearcats based on an American aircraft carrier. 25 Americans were killed in the incident, which nearly led to another world war.

History
In late 1949, USS Chester W. Nimitz was dispatched to the Baltic Sea as a part of the "Baltics Game", meant to intimidate the Soviet Navy into pulling back from its proximity to the coast of neutral Sweden. The American aircraft carrier came dangerusly close to Soviet shores at the Curonian Lagoon off the Lithuanian SSR, and on 2 January 1950 two US Navy naval aviation squadrons came under fire as they flew a reconnaissance mission over the Soviet Air Force base of Palanga. The Soviets killed 17 Americans by sending their own fighter squadrons to intercept the Americans, and on 6 January eight more Americans were killed in continued fighting. The Palanga incident nearly led to a third world war, but the Americans decided not to go to war while Soviet forces outnumbered them.